Prologue to Frontier Modernity: Zhangjiakou (Kalgan) as a Gateway City for the Modern Western Expeditions in China

2021 ◽  
pp. 2150009
Author(s):  
Chin-Yin Tseng
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Memory ◽  
Inner Mongolia ◽  
Han Dynasty ◽  
Hebei Province ◽  
Early 20Th Century ◽  
Urban Modernity ◽  
Balance Sheets ◽  
Postal Services ◽  
The City ◽  
Eastern Han

The late 19th and early 20th centuries witnessed an age of expedition frenzy that had spread east as the Western explorers diverted their interest in Central Asia across the continent to Chinese Xinjiang, Gansu, and Inner Mongolia. To facilitate the planning and logistics of their expedition activities, Western explorers selected specific cities situated on the Chinese northern and western frontiers that were geographically suited to their needs and interests, as well as to serve as their temporary basecamps throughout the expedition period. Kalgan, the name by which the city of Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province is most known to Westerners, is a city with close to 2,000 years of history as a frontier trade zone since the Eastern Han Dynasty, emerged from these expedition activities as an embodiment of full-fledged urban modernity in the early 20th century. Railroads, postal services, telegram lines, banking systems, and customs were all established as necessary infrastructures, turning this historical frontier city into a practical “pivot” from which the expedition operations were managed, relayed, and communicated with the explorers’ respective home nations. Through photos, writings, and other types of housekeeping documents (i.e., cheques, telegrams, and balance sheets), this paper aims to examine the cultural memory of Kalgan against the modern Western expedition activities that had directly, or indirectly, stimulated the modernization of a frontier city, one that had historically been a gateway city where the Chinese heartland meets the outside world.

Radiocarbon Dating the Ancient City of Loulan

Radiocarbon ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 1215-1226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bing Xu ◽  
Zhaoyan Gu ◽  
Xiaoguang Qin ◽  
Yong Wu ◽  
Guijin Mu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Han Dynasty ◽  
Abrupt Decrease ◽  
Inner Asia ◽  
Jin Dynasty ◽  
Ice Accumulation ◽  
Ancient City ◽  
History Of ◽  
Natural Climate ◽  
The City ◽  
Eastern Han

AbstractThe discovery of the ancient city of Loulan in Xinjiang, China, at the beginning of the 20th century was of great significance for understanding the evolution of culture and civilization in Inner Asia. However, due to the lack of systematic chronological studies, the history of this ancient city remains unclear, particularly the date of its construction and abandonment. Here, we present the results of the first systematic radiocarbon (14C) dating carried out on artifacts from ancient Loulan. Our results show that human activity began as early as 350 cal BC, flourished during the interval from the 1st to 4th centuries AD, and completely disappeared around 600 AD. Most of the buildings in the city were constructed during the Eastern Han Dynasty rather than in Wei/Jin Dynasty, as previously indicated by excavated documents and letters (Hedin 1898; Xiao 2006). The development and flourishing of Loulan coincided with the interval of high ice accumulation and meltwater supply from surrounding mountains. The city began to decline and was finally abandoned following an abrupt decrease in ice accumulation and meltwater supply (Yao et al. 1996; Lauterbach et al. 2014), suggesting that natural climate change was the major factor responsible for the abandonment of Loulan.

scholarly journals The Ethical Discourse: The Female Writing in the Modificated Process of For Jiao Zhongqing's Wife

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhaoyang Xia ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Free Choice ◽  
Code Of Ethics ◽  
Han Dynasty ◽  
Early 20Th Century ◽  
Narrative Strategy ◽  
Ethical Discourse ◽  
The Social ◽  
Narrative Poems ◽  
Eastern Han

In the early 20th century, the interpretation of the poem "Wei Jiao Zhongqing Qi Zuo" or "For Jiao Zhongqing's Wife" was mainly based on the social context at the time, which, however, might deviate from the original purpose of the female writing in the work. The poem once witnessed several modifications from the late Eastern Han Dynasty to the Southern Dynasties when the development of traditional Confucian code of ethics took off. The rewritings of female writing in literature works were to adapt to the male-dominated moral codes and discourse system at that time. Based on that, the female writing in the poem was processed, and evidence would be that from the perspective of content, the persona of Liu (Jiao's wife) portrayed in the poem changed greatly while characters like Jiao Zhongqing and Mother Jiao (Jiao's mother) were enriched. In addition, some new plots and characters were created for example, Brother Liu (Liu's brother) and Mother Liu (Liu's mother). In regard to the narrative strategy, the processed version intentionally emphasized the absence of "father" and "unrighteousness" of the brother to serve to the plot of suicide for love of Liu. This type of narrative poems conveying both criticism and praise was a tool used to complete and consolidate the ethical discourse and restrain women's influence on men, and it also echoed the traditional view of women passed from the Qin and Han Dynasties which for sure further confined women's free choice.

Restoration and re-creation in the Eastern Han

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Cullen
Keyword(s):  
Han Dynasty ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Technical Innovation ◽  
Astronomical Observation ◽  
Fundamental Innovation ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Zhang Heng ◽  
Eastern Han ◽  
New System

We look first at the situation in the early years of the restored Han dynasty. Liu Xin’s system continued in use for more than half a century. Then, in 85 CE, Liu Xin’s system was replaced. We have records of the practical and theoretical grounds on which the old system was rejected, and of the creation and implementation of a new system. Next we follow the story of how c. 92 CE Jia Kui advocated a fundamental innovation in both theory and practice: he insisted on the ecliptic as being central to astronomical observation and calculation. The richness of records from this period makes it easy to tell a detailed story of technical innovation in its fullest context, leading up to the work of Zhang Heng (78–139 CE), for whom astronomical calculation was just one of several fields in which he gained a reputation for exceptional originality.

Two Han tombs at Tushantun Cemetery in Qingdao, Shandong

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-121
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Coastal Area ◽  
Han Dynasty ◽  
Heritage Conservation ◽  
Vertical Shaft ◽  
Cultural Heritage Conservation ◽  
Qingdao City ◽  
Eastern Han ◽  
Physical Materials ◽  
Grave Goods

Abstract In April and May 2011, Qingdao Municipal Institute of Cultural Heritage Conservation and Archaeology and Huangdao District Museum excavated the Tushantun Cemetery located in Huangdao District, Qingdao City. The excavation cleared three mounds and recovered seven tombs beneath them. Of these seven tombs, M6 and M8 are vertical shaft stone pit tombs with brick-timber coffin chambers and ramp passages, the burial receptacles of which are nested double-coffin and double-coffin chamber, and the grave goods unearthed from which include bronzes, jades, lacquered wares, pottery and porcelain wares and implements made of bone and horn (turtle scute). The types and styles of the tombs and grave goods all show that the dates of these two tombs are the late Western Han to the early Eastern Han Dynasty. The excavation of these tombs provided important physical materials for the studies on the burial system, geography and material culture in the coastal area of southeastern Shandong during the Han Dynasty.

City’s Cultural Memory: Modern Practices of Symbolizing the Past

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 352-364
Author(s):  
Natalia G. Fedotova
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Memory ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Fundamental Aspect ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Cultural Meanings ◽  
Urban Identity ◽  
Symbolic Forms ◽  
The Past ◽  
Symbolic Resource ◽  
The City

The article is devoted to the discourse of the city’s cultural memory. The relevance of studying this topic is determined not only by the fundamental aspect associated with the episodicity of existing studies of this phenomenon. From an applied point of view, the city’s cultural memory is a symbolic resource that can be used to create an appealing image, form a sustainable urban identity, and strengthen the citizen’s sense of belonging to the city. The accumulation and objectification of cultural memory take place in symbolic forms, which makes it important to study the practices of symbolizing the urban past, the essence of which is to generate the significance of the relevant or latent layers of cultural memory for the citizens.The article presents the results of the final stage of research related to the study of the process of constructing the cultural memory of the city. The purpose of the article is to analyze modern practices of symbolizing fragments of the urban past, which mean their significance for contemporaries. Basing on the culturological cross-section of the issue, the author integrates different research contexts. The methodological basis of the article is the communicative approach that focuses on the processes of meaning formation, and the constructivist method that considers memory as a multi-layered and dynamic construct. Analyzing the practices of symbolizing the urban past by the example of Russian cities, the author of the article demonstrates how the episodes of the city’s memory are updated in the modern world, how cultural meanings become memorable for citizens. The author uses the results of previous studies and identifies the following elements of the symbolization of the urban past: a) ways of encoding fragments of the past; b) communicative trajectories of memory symbolization; c) factors of producing meanings about the collective past of the city. The obtained results open up new frontiers in understanding the processes of formation of the collective ideas about the city, and prospects for empirical research, forecasting and constructing the cultural memory of Russian cities, giving them the opportunity to change their present and future.

scholarly journals Lviv as the cradle of Polish independence organizations

2021 ◽  
Vol 201 (3) ◽  
pp. 534-545
Author(s):  
Janusz Zuziak
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Early 20Th Century ◽  
Social Activists ◽  
The Past ◽  
Independence Movement ◽  
Political Orientations ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Right ◽  
The City

Lviv occupies a special place in the history of Poland. With its heroic history, it has earned the exceptionally honorable name of a city that has always been faithful to the homeland. SEMPER FIDELIS – always faithful. Marshal Józef Piłsudski sealed that title while decorating the city with the Order of Virtuti Militari in 1920. The past of Lviv, the always smoldering and uncompromising Polish revolutionist spirit, the climate, and the atmosphere that prevailed in it created the right conditions for making it the center of thought and independence movement in the early 20th century. In the early twentieth century, Polish independence organizations of various political orientations were established, from the ranks of which came legions of prominent Polish politicians and military and social activists.

scholarly journals Cultural Memory and Urban Space in Shaping Cultural Identity

2019 ◽  
pp. 160-183
Author(s):  
Valentyna Bohatyrets ◽  
Liubov Melnychuk
Keyword(s):  
Urban Space ◽  
Cultural Memory ◽  
Urban Landscape ◽  
Late 20Th Century ◽  
The Past ◽  
Historical Archives ◽  
City Space ◽  
New Type ◽  
The City ◽  
Historic Cities

Nowadays, in the age of massive spatial transformations in the built environment, cities witness a new type of development, different in size, scale and momentum that has been thriving since late 20th century. Diverse transformation of historic cities under modernisation has led to concerns in terms of the space and time continuity disintegration and the preservation of historic cities. In a similar approach, we can state that city and city space do not only consist of present, they also consist of the past; they include the transformations, relations, values, struggles and tensions of the past. As it could be defined, space is the history itself. Currently, we would like to display how Chernivtsi cultural and architectural heritage is perceived and maintained in the course of its evolution. Noteworthy, Chernivtsi city is speculated a condensed human existence and vibes, with public urban space and its ascriptions are its historical archives and sacred memory. Throughout the history, CHERNIVTSI’s urban landscape has changed, while preserving its unique and distinctive spirit of diversity, multifacetedness and tolerance. The city squares of the Austrian, Romanian and Soviet epochs were crammed with statuary of royal elites and air of aristocracy, soviet leaders and a shade of patriotic obsession, symbolic animals and sacred piety – that eventually shaped its unique “Bukovynian supranational identity”. Keywords: Chernivtsi, cultural memory, memory studies, monuments, squares, identity.

Life and death in ancient Hermione. Excavations in the necropolis

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 157-167
Author(s):  
Angeliki Kossyva
Keyword(s):  
Collaborative Research ◽  
Research Programme ◽  
Early 20Th Century ◽  
Life And Death ◽  
The Road ◽  
Ancient City ◽  
The Social ◽  
Continuous Use ◽  
The City ◽  
East West

The wealth of ancient Hermione is no longer visible: continuous habitation from c. 3000 BC down to the present day has obliterated most traces. Important information on the social organization and economy of Hermione can however be drawn from the tombs that have been unearthed. A large cemetery was discovered in the early 20th century just outside the city gate, stretching along the road leading to ancient Mases and in continuous use for a period of 1,500 years. It covers an area of 1.5 km east–west along the modern Hermione–Kranidi rural road, taking in the terrain to either side to a width of 160 m and extending south to Pron Hill and north to a patch of level ground some 60 m wide. In this article we focus on cemetery finds unearthed in the area south of the present-day Gymnasium-Lykeion school of Hermione, as they typically reflect the urban organization and economic development of the ancient city. These two themes comprise some of the goals pursued in the collaborative research programme between the Ephorate of Antiquities of the Argolid and the Swedish Institute at Athens.

Analysis of the Structure of the City Budget of the Last Third of the 19th — Early 20th Century (Based on the Materials of the Tashkent City Self-Government)

Istoriya ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (10 (108)) ◽  
pp. 0
Author(s):  
Sabira Iusupova
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Early 20Th Century ◽  
Financial Situation ◽  
Historical Archive ◽  
Russian State ◽  
Socio Economic Development ◽  
The City

This article deals with the problem of the financial situation of Tashkent in the last third of the 19th — early 20th century on the basis of the materials of the office documentation of the Tashkent city self-government. These materials are contained in the funds of the Russian State Military Historical Archive, reflected on the pages of the pre-revolutionary local periodical. Based on the analysis of the income and expenditure estimates, the budget structure, sources of funds and their distribution are shown. The main problems in the financial sphere are identified, related to violations of the established deadline for the provision and approval of the city budget, with arrears, abuses of individual officials, which negatively affected the financial situation of the city. But despite these difficulties, some successes of the Tashkent city self-government in the socio-economic development of the city are noted.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document